Schedule/Blogging Update

 

[Content Warning: brief references to death, cancer, grief, and mental health issues.]

For those who don't know, my mother passed away from cancer in February.

Things were pretty awful, generally, at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.

Life/Blogging Update + Updated Blogging Schedule

 

OK, so... life continues to be tough AF for yours truly.

So while I fully intended to bring my regular series (Comics Wrap-Up, Friday Fics Fix, Nerd Church,) back in January, for my own mental health and ability to use my free time for such luxurious things as sleeping and eating, that's not going to happen.

I'm tentatively aiming to bring them back in February, but honestly the way my life is right now, we all could have been hit by a meteor by then.

Still, I'll keep you updated when I can!

Look after yourselves, and remember to shelter from meteors... somehow.

Comics Wrap-Up - Falling Back On Faves

 

It's Thursday, I'm tired, this is Dora Reads - so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - To-Do List Struggles

 

My to-do isn't that long - at first glance.

But that's mostly because I only write down a few things that I need to prioritise and/or think I'm in danger of forgetting. 😅

My mental to-do list? Much, much, bigger.

Like... I expect a lot of myself.

Nerd Church - Strange Days

 

Strange days are here to stay
Ever since Bowie died
It hasn't been the same

- Green Day, Strange Days Are Here To Stay

 

The world's weird, right now.

Maybe it always is, always was, always will be.

Still, I can't help but feel - and I know other people will agree - that we're in the middle of a particularly weird and wacky period.

The 2020s haven't exactly been an easy ride so far, and it looks like that isn't changing any time soon.

But whoever you are, wherever you are - keep going.

Friday Fics Fix - We Got It All

 

'The people who know the Winter Soldier is rogue and hunting won’t exactly be shouting it from the rooftops, because telling people your pet murder machine has gone a little bit rabid on you is just the slightest bit bad for morale.'

 

I'm cheating, this week.

I have rec'd this fic before - way back, in the ancient internet age of 2018 (and also in a few rec lists since then.)

Nerd Church - Blogging Schedule Update (...It's Been A Stressful Week)

 

I don't usually write Nerd Church posts like this, but since Nerd Church isn't really tightly defined (...or defined at all, OK, I know,) I figured why not?

You may or may not have noticed that there was no Comics Wrap-Up (CWU) post, or Friday Fics Fix (F3) post this week.

- Which wasn't a planned break.

My life turned into another whirling ball of chaos this week, with my mother's health being very Not Good.

(Thankfully she's doing so much better now.)

Comics Wrap-Up - Wholesome AF

 

It's Thursday, I'm stressed, let's get comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Sometimes You Need To Take Things Slow

 

Do you get the feeling, sometimes, that everything out there in the big wide world is kind of... rushed?

It's kind of fast, kind of hurried, kind of urgent.

Nerd Church - Random Audiobook Ramblings

 

...a post brought to you by my boredom with walking, and my doctor's insistence that, if I go walkies, it'll help with my mental health. (I'm not buying it - it's never helped before, but I'll try anything.)

When there's been no rain for a couple of days in a row, it's not so bad 'cos I can go to the woods, but otherwise said woods are like a very slippery mudslide. 

So if it's been raining within 48-72 hours, then I have to walk around streets and shops and sh** so I don't trip, fall, and end up in the river/bang my head on a tree/anger one of The Fair Folk by falling into them or summat. 

*Sigh* The woods are my natural habitat, dammit!

Friday Fics Fix - Because I Am Trash

 

'"No, Sam, you're on vacation. Phone it in, let someone else do it."

"Bucky, it's an hour. We can go check it out, then stop at mine and get my stuff and be at the airport by five, half five at the latest. We've got time."'

Narrator: it did not take an hour.

...OK, so this is a The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) fic because I am trash and have run out of effs to give. 😘

Nerd Church - I Seem To Be Watching More True Crime...

Warning: This post references true crime and murder, and discusses mental health problems - especially Anxiety.

Disclaimer time: I am not any type of psychological, medical, or scientific expert. I'm a chick with a blog, nothing more, nothing less.

Wild-child that I am, of an evening I like to get myself a snack, and a glass of diet coke, and watch TV for a while.

Lately that's meant, more often than not, true crime.

Because there's nothing more calming than some grisly murder before bed.

Friday Fics Fix - Doctor Who and Self-Care, Because Why Not?

 

'Knock, knock, knock on the door. Three times, not four, and the door isn’t blue. It’s red, glittering in baubles of sunlight cast over its fresh coat of paint. The Doctor is safe.'

 

So far, I'm loving the way Dr Who is headed with Russell T. Davies back at the helm.

Side-note: Welsh people (which Russell T Davies is,) say Dave-iss, not Daveys. Please, for the love of God, respect that. (And check out this Legends of Tomorrow clip for pronounciation, complete with accent.)

Also, Welsh people with common surnames will use middle initials or names to distinguish themselves from other people with the same name. Don't miss out the initials/names when talking about them, please and thank you.

Nerd Church - Putting Self-Care At The Top Of My To-Do List

I've had to remind myself so many times, over the years, that it's best to take things one step at a time.

...That I only have two hands.

...That I actually get more done when I relax.

And yet... it's still so hard to do.

Nerd Church - The Nebulousness Of Self-Care (Or 'What Do I Need?!')

Warning: Vague discussions of mental health issues

Disclaimer Time: I am not any sort of psychological, medical, or healthcare professional. I am a chick with an internet connection: nothing more, nothing less.

Does anyone else find it hard to figure out what sort of self-care they need?

Because it's not all bubble baths and scented candles 

- in fact I have to be careful with bubble baths in case my skin allergies freak out, and I don't like lighting candles anywhere near the cats because that's just an accident waiting to happen...

And apart from all that, the consumerist, one-size-fits-all, version of self-care does not, in fact, fit all.

Nerd Church - Basic Levels of Niceness

(Warning: this blogpost discusses low self-worth and mental health problems. It also briefly discusses toxic/abusive friendships.)

"Oh My God! You remembered!" 

She's holding the chocolate orange, still partly covered by reindeer wrapping paper, like it's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.

"Yeah?" - of course I did, she and our friend spent a good half an hour a month or so back discussing how sad it was that no-one ever gets them chocolate oranges, how much they love chocolate oranges, and that they hadn't had chocolate oranges in forever. 

So, when I was buying their Christmas presents, I bought a couple of chocolate oranges. No brainer; no biggy.

"You're so sweet!"

...Am I?

Nerd Church - The Little Things Are There To Enjoy...

 

It's good to remind ourselves - as often as is necessary - that the little things are there to enjoy.

...By 'ourselves' I obviously mean me - we need to remind me. 😅

Warning/Disclaimer Time: 

I very briefly discuss mental health problems in this blogpost.

I also give opinions on what can contribute to people's mood, so: I'm not any sort of scientific/medical/psychological professional - I'm a chick with personal experience of mental health issues and an internet connection. OK? OK.

The little things contribute so much to our lives.

Our beautiful, messed-up, everyday lives are made up of the bracelet you wore this morning, what you had for breakfast, whether you tripped over the doorstep on your way out, what song is playing on the radio... etc. etc.

Nerd Church - Sometimes, This Is OK

I don't know what I'm writing but I hope it'll turn out OK. 

I'm literally just typing things and hoping it turns into a blogpost at this point.

Wish me luck.

Thoughts are hard to form, sometimes. 

Let alone trying to write something insightful, pithy, witty, or just plain worth it.

Sometimes I put way too much pressure on myself and on this blog. 

Not everything I write has to have some deep meaning behind it.

(I know - you wouldn't think it for by reading some of my posts on such heavy-weight topics as fanfiction and weird superhero videos I found on the Interwebs. 😅 )

Nerd Church - The Best and Worst of Humanity

Warning: this post talks trolls and bigots, but mostly in the abstract sense

The internet is an interesting cesspit.

The best and the worst of humanity in one place.

(Thank God it's not still 2016 - for graphic imagery and threats, that year has thankfully yet to be beaten for me.)

Comics Wrap-Up - You Can 100% Guarantee I Need Klaus Hargreeves

It's Thursday, this week has been truly awful for me, so let's get some superhero-y comics-y goodness!